Listen to the podcast.

9-11 Search and Rescue Dogs Healthier than Humans

While the majority of human rescuers who dug through the debris following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have suffered from deadly cancers and lung ailments, it appears that their canine counterparts fared much better.

New research finds no sign of major illness in most of the dogs used to sniff out survivors at ground zero, though some owners of these animals do not agree with the results.

At least 70 percent of human rescue workers who stepped up in the days and weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks have suffered major illnesses. Some dogs have died of rare cancers since their exposure five years ago, but researchers say no more than average for dogs of that age and many have lived well beyond the average life span.

Owners of rescue dogs that became ill or died following Sept. 11 argue the study should not have included dogs used at the Pentagon, where the environmental exposure was not the same as it was in New York, and that the study left out many dogs whose owners did not want to subject them to repeated testing.

Researchers one reason the dogs may have exhibited fewer health problems was because they were only exposed to contaminants for a few days, while human rescue workers were out there for many weeks or months. Dogs also have shorter life spans, so illnesses that develop over time, such as cancer, might not appear before the end of their natural life.

For more information on this story, click here.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org